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The Orphan Queen (2000)

by Jodi Meadows(Favorite Author)

4.22 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0062317385 (ISBN13: 9780062317384)

languge

English

genre

Romance

series

The Orphan Queen

review 1: Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: I went in with high expectations that were unfortunately unfulfilled.Opening Sentence: The mirrors were an expensive superstition.The Review:Wil is the daughter of the dead king and queen of a kingdom that has been taken over. With a small group of rebels, she hopes to take back that kingdom when the time comes, but it’s not going to be easy to reclaim her land. And that’s not her only problem. For years, all the realms thrived with magic, but then the toxic byproduct of magic grew into a big problem. The wraith mutate animals into fierce beasts and can hurt and kill. Wil is one of the only people left who can use magic, but with the wraith devouring kingdoms as they move across, it’s a last resort. Together with her... more best friend she will have to fool the royal court, servants, and many others in able to eventually take her thrown.I had read some of Jodi Meadow’s previous works prior to starting this novel. I had been very impressed with her writing in the past, so I was excited to get the chance to read The Orphan Queen. After all, Incarnate was so interesting and beautiful to me. I want ed to see if Jodi Meadow’s could keep up the trend of excellence and went into this book with high expectations. Unfortunately, this book was not my favorite. It was only eh. The writing style was completely different than I remembered it being and I didn’t latch onto the characters. The whole idea of the wraith was unique, and I feel that if the story had been written more lyrically like Incarnate was, I would have appreciated it more. Then again — it’s been so long since I’ve read Incarnate, maybe I’m remembering it wrong. I was only given about half of the book to review, so I only got a taste of the book. I don’t know if I would choose to read the rest. I easily could if I wanted to as it’s already out, but I guess I’ll see if I ever get the urge to pick it up.To be honest, I found Wil’s character quite dull. She didn’t have an interesting personality or stand out to me. I didn’t find myself connecting with her or emphasizing with her plight. I also kept making connections to Snow Like Ashes. She, like Miera, is trying to get back her kingdom with only a small group of rebels. But I found Miera had a spark that Wil was missing. Miera was funny, and her emotions were portrayed better through the writing, but Wil was plain boring. This caused a disconnection between me and the book. I wish that I could have gotten closer to Wil, that she was more relatable, so I could have had a better experience. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and not caring for the main character seems to be this book’s main downfall (in my opinion).The world-building in this book was pretty good. I got a feel for the castle and the kingdoms, and the problem the wraith posed. I did like how Wil had to constantly struggle to not use her magic, knowing the wraith it created. I wish I got to see more of her using it, but then again, I only got the chance to read half the book. There was a character called the Black Knife that I really couldn’t form a firm opinion on. My emotions towards him were slippery and confused, after his brief interactions with Wil. He captures those committing crimes, but for some reason he always lets Wil slip away. Why? What’s your motive capturing people and why is Wil the exception to the rule?I don’t have much to say about The Orphan Queen, because I really didn’t have very intense feelings while reading it. I wish I could say I really enjoyed it, but sadly that wasn’t the case. I scraped by when reading this and didn’t soak much it. I didn’t like the main character and the side characters were only okay. One thing I do want to know is where Melanie was sneaking off to, but other than that, I don’t really care about the ending. I probably will not ever finish The Orphan Queen unless I happen to come by a copy in a giveaway or as a gift. There wasn’t much about the story that stood out to me besides the whole idea of wraiths, byproducts of magic, which were interesting. I hope for the book’s sake that they delve more into how the wraith are produced in the half I didn’t read, because wraiths were the major intriguing part of the story for me. Basically, The Orphan Queen wasn’t my favorite, but I’m sure that some fantasy lovers might have a better time with it.Notable Scene:The clock tower chimed as we ran through the people we’d meet tonight, who might be useful, who could be ignored for now, and how we’d behave around all of them. We were refugee nobility, after all; we could get away with a wide range of behavior, if we played our characters right.And we were nothing if not good at being exactly what others expected us to be.FTC Advisory: Katherine Tegen Books/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of The Orphan Queen. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
review 2: **Warning for those who've recieved an ARC, It is not complete. In fact it ends after chapter 12**I would absolutely have loved to review THE ORPHAN QUEEN. Unfortunately the ARC I received is only a small amount of the actual book and although I enjoyed the portion I was able to read, without the rest of the book I can't possibly give my full opinion. I do hope to read THE ORPHAN QUEEN when it is released. less

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